Common File Extensions

Common File
Extensions

Lionel Hartley, PhD

Common File
Extensions

Lionel Hartley, PhD

Common File Extensions

Dr Lionel Hartley

Published byL&R Hartley

Copyright ©2002 Lionel Hartley

All rights reserved in all countries.
No part of this book may be used or
reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission except in
the case of brief quotations embodied
in critical articles and reviews.
Typeset in Times New Roman

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Contents

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Contents (Continued)

Introduction

have compiled this list in response

to several enquiries about specific

file extensions. This list is by no
means exhaustive, but lists some of the
most common in use at this time. It is
not the purpose of this document to ex-
plain what each file is used for, as this
information is available from individual
programme suppliers.

At least six specific variations also
occur:

1. Some programmes rely on addi-
tional data and use the same extensions
for different types of files. For example
the extension ‘.DOC’, one of the most
common extensions for DOCuments, is
used by almost all versions of Microsoft

(6)

Word, yet many ‘.DOC’ files are not
backwards compatible (able to be
opened in earlier versions of word with-
out conversion).

2. Some extensions are used to ac-
cess the same file in different pro-
grammes.

For example the extension ‘.CSV’
which refers to a text file using com-
mas as tabs (Comma Separated Value)
and is used by Microsoft Excel, but may
also used by Microsoft Access address
book, Cheyenne BitWare®, etc., and
can be read just as easily in each pro-
sramme.

Many file extensions are deliberately
cross-programme compatible, for exam-
ple ‘.RTF’ (Rich Text Format) and
‘PDF’ (Adobe® Portable Document
File) which is also cross-platform com-

(7)

patible, usually able to be read by MAC
or IBM.

The extension ‘.TXT” is often cross-
programme and cross-platform compat-
ible because it usually refers to plain
text, but can also include variations with
a range of formatting codes that may be
lost in the conversion process.

3. Some files are of the same type
yet have different extensions for use in
different programmes. For example a
database file may have the extension
‘.D8A’, ‘.DAT’, ‘DET’, ‘.MDE’,
*MDT’, or ‘.ODC’.

4. Some extensions mean one thing
in one programme and something quite
different in another. For example the
extension ‘.TBL’ is a table in Adobe
®Table and a graph in EncyloDict®.

(8)

5. Some extensions mean the same
thing in different programmes and yet
are not compatible. For example, a file
with the extension ‘.DIC’ usually refers
to a dictionary file. However a ‘.DIC’
file written for Quick Verse® is not com-
patible with a ‘.DIC’ file written for
QuarkXpress®.

6. A few programmes, notable DOS
based (Such as PC Write) may allow the
user to use extensions for their own pur-
poses of file identification, such as date
or subject codes. This may cause prob-
lems if the files are later used under
Windows.

Programme files which are yet to be
installed may have an extension that
ends in an underscore (E.g. ‘.Ex_’ will
be unpacked as ‘.E XE’ by the installer

(9)

programme).

Certain programmes may use a file
that has no extension to store password
keys, etc.

A file that begins with a tilde (~) ora
dollar sign ($) is usually either a tem-
porary or corrupt file. For example MS
Word stores recovery files in the tilde
format while Word is running and if the
programme is shut down properly these
are automatically deleted.

(10)

Numbers

1ST a text file - usually “READ.1ST’
(Read First) — compare ‘READ.ME’
(May be opened in notepad or a DOS
editor)

.386 Virtual Device Driver
.8BA Photoshop Plug In
.8BE Photoshop Plug In
.8BF Photoshop Plug In
.8BI Photoshop Plug In
.8BX Photoshop Plug In
.8BY Photoshop Plug In
.8LI Photoshop Plug In

(11)

A

-ABR Photoshop Brushes File
.ACF Microsoft Agent Character File
.ACG Microsoft Agent Preview File
-ACL AutoCorrect List File

.ACO Photoshop Swatches File
.ACS Microsoft Agent Character File
.ACT Photoshop Colour Table File
.ADD PageMaker Plug in

.ADO Photoshop Duotone Settings
File

.ADP Microsoft Access Project
.AI Adobe Illustrator Artwork
.AIA Adobe Illustrator Action File
.AIF AIFF Audio File

-AIFF AIFF Audio File

.AIP Adobe Illustrator Plug in

(12)

-ANI ANImated Cursor

-API Photoshop Printing Inks File
-APL Photoshop Adobe Plug In
-ARC WinZip File (ARChive)
ART ART Image

.ARTX ARTX Image File

-ASD ASF Stream Description File
-ASL Photoshop Styles

-ASP Photoshop Sep Tables File
.ATN Photoshop Actions File
.-AU AU audio file

.AVI Video Clip

.AW Answer Wizard File

(13)

B

.-BAK Back-up File (DOS or pro-
grammes such as PC Tools)

.BAS Visual Basic Module

-BAT MS-DOS Batch File (May be
edited in notepad or a DOS editor)

-BBS Bulletin Board Service File
-BCF PageMaker Colour Library
.BFX BitFax Pro View Fax File
-BIN Windows Archive File
.BJC Printer Resource File

-BK1 Book resource File (Also
.BK2, .BK3, etc.)

.BMP Bitmap Image

(14)

C

.C3D COOL 3D Object

-CAB WinZip or other archiver File

.CAD Cad Studio (or similar) Draw-
ing

.CAT Security Catalogue (or any
catalogue in general)

.CCC Confidential Client Code File

.CHA Photoshop CHA File

.CHM Compiled HTML Help file

.CIF Easy CD Creator Image File

.CL3 Easy CD Creator Layout File

-CLB QuarkXPress Colour Book

.CLR Screen Contents Clearance File

.CLS Visual Basic Class Module

.CNF PageMaker Preference list

.COD Database or dictionary File

(15)

.COM MS-DOS Application
.CPL Control Panel extension
.CRL Certificate Revocation List
.CSF Photoshop Colour Settings
.CSS Cascading Style Sheets File

.CSV Microsoft Excel (& others)
Comma Separated Values File

.CTL Visual Basic User Control
-CUR Cursor

(16)

D
.D8A PC-NAG Data File

.DAN Danish Dictionary
.DAT Data File
.DB Database File

.DCT QuarkXPress (or other) Dic-
tionary

.DET Office Data File
-DIC Dictionary or Text Document
-DICT Dictionary

.DLL Application Extension (Dy-
namic Link Library)

.DOC Microsoft Word Document

-DOS DOS (Disk Operating System)
File

.DOT Microsoft Word Template
-.DRV Device driver
-.DSK Disk Image File

(17)

-DSN SureThing CD Labeller File
-DSR Visual Basic Designer Module

.DSX Visual Basic Designer Binary
File

.DUN Dial-Up Networking Exported
File

(18)

E

-EBO Microsoft Reader
.EGA Graphics Information File
.ELM Microsoft Office Themes File

-EML Outlook Express Mail Mes-
sage

-ENG English Dictionary

.ENV Sound clip envelope

.EPS Encapsulated PostScript
.EXE Application (EXEcutable File)

.EXP Database for export (Eg. CSV
or TSV)

(19)

F

.FIN Finish Language Dictionary
.FLE Temporary file

.FLG Memory Tag (flag) File
.FLT Adobe Illustrator Filter
.FND Saved Search

.FNT Font file

.FON Font file

-FRD French Dictionary

.FRM Visual Basic Form File
.FRX Visual Basic Form Binary File
.FTM Coda Template File

.FXT Finale Plug-In

(20)

G

-GER German Dictionary

.GIF GIF Image

.GRA Microsoft Graph 2000 Chart
.GRD Photoshop.Gradients

(21)

H

-HLP Help File
-HOL Microsoft Outlook Holidays

-HTM HTML (Hypertext Mark-up
Language) Document

-HTML HTML (Hypertext Mark-up
Language) Document

-HTT HyperText Template

-HTX Internet Database Connector
HTML Template

-HUB Network Administration File

-HYP Adobe Illustrator Hyphenation
Dictionary

(22)

I
ICC ICC Profile

.ICM ICC Profile

ICO Icon 1

.ICS iCalendar File

AD Identification (ID) File
IDF MIDI Instrument Definition
.IDX Index File

MF IMF File

.IMG Image File

.IMP Data Import File

.INF Setup Information
.INI Configuration Settings

.INS Internet Communication Set-
tings

.INV Invoice template
IQY Microsoft Excel Web Query

(23)

File
.JIROS Photoshop IR Settings
.IRS Photoshop IR Settings
ISA Photoshop IR Actions

.ISP Internet Communication Set-
tings

TS Internet Document Set

(24)

J

JAR Java File

JAVA Java File

JPG JPEG Image

JS JScript Script File

(25)

K

-KAR Karaoke Player MIDI Se-
quence

-KBD Keyboard information File

-.KEY Programme Loading Access
File

-.KEYS Programme Loading Access
File

(26)

L

.LEX Dictionary File
.LIB Library or colour palate File

-LIC Licence Information File
79,436 5 15,887

.LIT Microsoft Reader 7,518,761 14
937,054

.LNK Windows shortcuts (DOS
shortcuts use .PIF)

-LOG LOG File

.LSF Advanced Streaming Format
File

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M
MAP MAP File

-.MAT Microsoft Access Table
Shortcut

.MDA Microsoft Access Add-in
-.MDB Microsoft Access Application

.MDE Microsoft Access MDE Da-
tabase

.MDT Microsoft Access Add-in Data

.MDW Microsoft Access Workgroup
Information

.MDZ Microsoft Access Database
Wizard Template

.ME atext file - usually ‘“READ.ME’
— compare ‘READ.1ST’ (May be
opened in

notepad or a DOS editor)
-MHT M-HTML Document

(28)

.MID MIDI Sequence
-MMC Media Catalog File
-MML Media Catalog File

MMM Type 1 Multiple Master
Metrics

MMW Media Catalog File
MOV QuickTime Movie

-.MP3 MPEG I Layer 3 file
-.MPEG Movie Clip

-MPG Movie Clip

.MRG MRG File

.MSC MSC File

-.MSG Outlook Item

.MSI Windows Installer Package
.MTP MTAPI

.MUS Coda Music Notation File

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N

.NDX Index File
.NPK n-Track Studio Peak File
.NSL Nokia Startup Logo

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O

.OCA Control Typelib Cache

-OCR OCR (Optical Character Rec-
ognition) File

-ODC Microsoft Office Data Con-
nection

OFT Outlook Item Template
-OLB Library File

-OLD Archived File

.OPS Office 10 Settings file

(31)

P

.P65 PageMaker 6.5 Publication
.PCI Motherboard controller File
.PCX PCX Image

-PDF Adobe Acrobat Document
(Portable Document File)

.PDX Acrobat Catalogue Index
.PFB PostScript Outlines

.PFM PostScript Metrics

-.PMD PageMaker 7+ Publication

.PIF Shortcut to MS-DOS Program
(Windows shortcuts use .LNK [link])

.PIP Microsoft Office Settings File
-.PMR PhotoModeler Document
.PNG PNG Image File

-POT Microsoft PowerPoint Tem-
plate

.PPA Microsoft PowerPoint Add-in

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.PPD Printer Driver File

-PPS Microsoft PowerPoint Slide
Show

-PPT Microsoft PowerPoint Presen-
tation

PREF Preferences File

.PRF Microsoft Outlook Profile Set-
tings

.PRN Printer Settings

.PS Acrobat Distiller file ready for
conversion to .PDF

.PSD Adobe Photoshop Image
.PSF Photoshop Proof Setup
.PSP Photoshop Preferences File
.PSW Password File

.PWRD Password File

.PT Kodak Precision Transform
.PUB WP Publication File

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Q

.QDAT QuickTime Install Cache
-QPX QuickTime Player Plugin

-QRC QuarkXPress Required Com-
ponents

.QTIF QuickTime Image

.QTP QuickTime Preferences
QTS QuickTime File

QTX QuickTime Extension
.QXD QuarkXPress Document
.QXT QuarkXPress Template

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R

-RAM Memory Access File
-RAT Rating System File
-RDG Registration Entries
-REG Registration Entries
.RMI MIDI Sequence
-ROB ROB File

-RPT Report or log File
-RSL PageMaker Resource

.RTF Rich Text Format (May be
opened in MS Word & other WP)

(35)

S

SAM 8 bit Signed File

“SAV Archived File (Similar to .OLD
or .BAK)

.OCA Norton AntiVirus Scan

.SCF Windows Explorer Command
.SCP Dial-Up Networking Script
.SCPT GL Script File

.OCR Screen Saver

.SES Cool Edit (Audio) Session File

.SET Play List Document or Settings
File

.SFX Special Effects Data File
.SHP Help File

.SHS Scrap Object

SITE GLSite File

.SMP SampleVision file

(36)

.SNG n-Track Studio song file
.SPD Spanish Dictionary
.SPL Shockwave Flash Object
.SPT PageMaker 6.5 Script
.STF Microsoft Set-up File
SVG SVG Document

.SWE Shockwave Flash Object
25,449 1 25,449

.SWP Swap File
SYS System file

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T

.T65 PageMaker Template

.TAB Tab Reference File or Tab
Separated Value File

.TAG Tagged File

.TBL Adobe ®Table

.TGA Graphics Information File
.TIF Image File (Tagged Image)
.TIFF Image File (Tagged Image)
.TMP Temporary File

.TPL Cakewalk Audio Studio Tem-
plate

.TSV Tab Separated Value file (May
be opened as text)

.TTF TrueType Font file
. TXT Text Document

(38)

U

-UDC Proximity Dictionary
-.URL Internet Shortcut

(39)

V

.VBP Visual Basic Project
.VBS VBScript Script File

.VBW_ Visual Basic Project
Workspace

.VBZ Visual Basic Wizard
.VGA Graphics Information File
.VXD Virtual device driver

(40)

WwW

.WAB Address Book File
.WAV Wave Sound

.WBK Microsoft Word Backup
Document

WIZ Microsoft Word Wizard
-WLL Word.Add-in.

.WME Windows Meta File (Graphic
File)

WMV Windows Media Audio/
Video file

.WPG Glossary

.WRI MS Write Document (May be
opened in some versions of MS Word)

.WRK Cakewalk Audio Project

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X

.XLA Microsoft Excel Add-In 2
.XLB Microsoft Excel Worksheet
.XLL Microsoft Excel XLL Add-In
.XLS Microsoft Excel Worksheet
.XLT Microsoft Excel Template
XML XML Document

.XNT QuarkXPress XTension
.XSL XSL Stylesheet

Microsoft documents in more recent
versions may add an ‘x’ to the file
extension. For example .DOCX, PPTX,
Etc.

(42)

ne

No entries under Y for this edition

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Z,
.Z WinZip File
.ZIP WinZip or other archiver file

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